Lisa and Tremaine Lebis (Courtesy Clayton County and Georgia Department of Corrections)

Officer Sean Callahan (Courtesy Clayton County Police)

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. -- A Clayton County police officer has died after a shootout at the Motel 6 in Stockbridge Monday.

Officer Sean Callahan, 24, had only been on the job four months and is the first officer the department has lost in the line of duty.

He died just after 5:15 a.m. Tuesday at Grady Memorial Hospital.

"A police officer is a job that only a few people have the mental and physical ability to perform," Lt. Chris Windley said in a statement Tuesday.

"For those few men and women that do have those abilities, it is an honor to be able to put on that uniform. Our job as police officers is to protect and serve. Our job requires us to run to face the danger, no matter what the circumstances. We don't do this job to be seen, we do this job to protect our nation. We do this job because it is something that we love to do."

"Officer Sean Louis Callahan joined the Clayton County Police Department because he wanted to do something that he loved," Windley added. "Please pray for the Callahan Family, the Clayton County Police Department."

According to childhood friend Justin Baker, Callahan was the "protector" in their group of friends.

Callahan graduated from Lassiter High School in Cobb County in 2006 and put himself through the police academy at Reinhardt College. He graduated in 2011.

Baker said Callahan talked about being an officer as a child but he got more serious about it, as he grew older.

"It wasn't easy. He had to take a couple of turns left and right to get there but he did it and that's what makes today even harder," Baker told 11Alive News.

Clayton County Police Chief Gregory Porter said Callahan was among two officers who responded to a domestic dispute between a Stockbridge couple at around 2:15 p.m. Monday.

Porter said the man, later identified as 42-year-old Tremaine Lebis, ran away and Callahan chased him. Gunfire broke out, and Callahan was shot twice in the head. Lebis was killed.

Witnesses described the series of gunshots coming from outside their motel rooms. "Everybody thought it was construction because they were working on a room," said Warren Parham, was in a room with his 3-year-old son.

"It was so loud I had to tell my youngest to get down on the floor because I didn't know if they would come through the wall," he said.

"We opened the door up and looked and the only thing that I seen is (the suspect) rounding the corner of the back building," said Joe Fiouris.

Fiouris said he saw Lebis walking his dog around the motel before the shooting.

According to the Department of Corrections, Lebis was in prison twice, his longest sentence for aggravated assault and possession of a weapon in Gwinnett County. He served 15 of a 20 year sentence.

He plead guilty in Henry County in 2011 for as a convicted felon, illegally possessing a weapon and making a false report of a crime. He was allowed out on parole in May, when he died in the shootout with police.

His wife, Lisa Lebis appeared in court on Tuesday on simple battery and obstruction charges. She's accused of refusing to follow police orders the day of the shooting and kicking a police officer trying to put her in the patrol car.

Lebis had a bruise around her left eye and cried as she entered the courtroom.

In court, Lebis told the judge she was five months pregnant and had a long list of medical problems. She described herself as a stay at home mom, but told the judge her two other children lived with her ex-husband.

Seven law enforcement officers have died in Georgia while on duty this year.